Yurok vowels: Short a, e, and long aa

A vowel is a sound in which air flows relatively freely through the mouth (in contrast with consonants, in which air is more tightly constrained by the tongue, lips, etc.). Yurok has 11 basic vowel sounds, a few of which vary in pronunciation depending on context, dialect, or speaker. The 11 vowels include six short vowels and five long vowels, where long vowels are held twice as long as short vowels. Each short vowel other than e has a long counterpart:

SHORT a e ee o ue er
LONG aa — eee oo uue err

The descriptions given here are mainly intended for language learners. Names of Yurok speakers are abbreviated: AF = Aileen Figueroa, JJ = Jimmie James, GM = Glenn Moore Sr., VM = Violet Moore, FS = Florence Shaughnessy, AT = Archie Thompson, GT = Georgiana Trull, JVP = Jessie Van Pelt.

Short a and long aa

Linguistic description: a is low central [a]; aa is long [aː]

Yurok a and aa are intermediate in quality between the vowel of English hat and hot, but not the same as either of them. The long vowel aa has a more consistent quality, while short a tends to be affected by the neighboring consonants. For both vowels, there are also somewhat different pronunciations downriver (near the mouth of the Klamath River) and upriver. As the examples below illustrate, the downriver pronunciation is closer to the vowel in English hat, while the upriver pronunciation is closer to the vowel in English hot.

chaahl 'beach' kaap' 'brush' raak 'creek' sraach' 'quiver' 'n-aawech 'my back'
DOWNRIVER
AT:
AT:
FS:
FS:
AT:
UPRIVER
GT:
JJ:
AF:
GM:
AF:

Notice that downriver, kaap' and raak sound a bit like English cap and rack, while upriver they are closer to English cop and rock. But to have the best Yurok accent possible, learners should imitate the vowels of their teachers or fluent speakers (for example above) rather than using English vowels.

Short a mainly occurs before the consonants h, ' (glottal stop), and r. Typical pronunciations are shown in this table:

AH
chahkwoh
'pants' (JVP):
ekah
'hat' (JVP):
kahkah
'sturgeon' (JJ):
pa'ah
'water' (GT):
A'
ha'p'oh
'pitch' (JJ):
ma'ak
'head roll' (GT):
tregepa'
'dip net' (AF):
Wa's'ey
(place name) (JVP):
AR
ahtemar
'paper' (JVP):
cheekw'ar
'chair' (AF):
harpuech
'ant' (VM):
ka'ar
'pet' (JVP):

The combination ar is also illustrated together with other short vowel + glide combinations here, and it is noticeable that the vowel before r may sound more like open e (which does not occur in this position). This is because an r always has a strong effect on the pronunciation of a preceding vowel.

Short e

Linguistic description: e is either (tense) [e] or (lax) [ɛ] or (open) [ɛ̞]

Yurok e is unique in having no long vowel counterpart and also in having three pronunciation variants. The three variants are predictable; that is, in a given word, you can usually tell which one to use. But because they tend to sound like three different English vowels, they sound more different to us today than they traditionally were in Yurok. The three variants of e can be called tense, lax, and open. They are distributed as follows:

  • The tense and open pronunciations are used when e is stressed:

    • The tense pronunciation is used when stressed e is not in the final syllable of a word. This variant sometimes tends to sound like the vowel in English bait or hay, but is often shorter and purer-sounding than the English vowel.

    • The open pronunciation is used when stressed e is in the final (or only) syllable of a word. This variant sometimes sounds like the vowel in English hat, but never actually rhymes with the English vowel.

  • Otherwise, when e is not stressed, the lax pronunciation is used. This is like the vowel in English head or pet, though sometimes it is reduced and may tend to sound like the vowel of hut or putt.

Since the three e variants do not quite match any set of English vowels, the best way to learn to pronounce them is by listening carefully to teachers or recordings of Yurok speakers. In the table below, the three e variants are compared with each other and also with the combination e + y, whose pronunciation is always distinct from tense e (for example, it is twice as long and the y is sometimes whispered).

E + Y
chegeykenee 'little ones' (AF):
leychehl 'blackberry' (GT):
lo'ogey 'black' (FS):
TENSE E
kechew' 'baby basket cover' (GT):
hekwsa' 'whale' (AF):
meweehl 'elk' (JJ):
OPEN E
chekws 'heart' (VM):
nek 'I, me' (VM):
pontet 'ashes' (AF):
LAX E
hoogech 'star' (GT):
huenkek's 'open it!' (GM):
neekwech 'grizzly bear' (GT):

In a word with more than one e, you can hear that an initial stressed e has the tense pronunciation variant, a final stressed e has the open pronunciation variant, and any other e has the lax pronunciation variant. This table shows some common patterns:

TENSE + LAX (final unstressed syllable)TENSE + OPEN (final stressed syllable)
ket'ket'ey 'they're moored' (FS):
[tense + lax + lax]
keget 'mountain lion' (JJ):
[tense + open]
lehlkepek' 'I crawl' (FS):
[tense + lax + lax]
kelew 'you (all)' (GT):
[tense + open]
repchem 'sugar' (GT):
[tense + lax]
segep 'coyote' (AF):
[tense + open]